New research examining the role of race and ethnicity in an individual’s decision to become a donor for hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) identifies several factors associated with varied participation rates in national donor registries across racial/ethnic groups. Results of this first-of-its-kind study were published online in Blood, the Journal of the American Society of Hematology (ASH).

Hematopoietic cell transplants serve as valuable treatments for a range of blood disorders, as they generate new, healthy blood cells to replace diseased cells. While cells from related donors offer the highest success rates, similar successes can be achieved using cells from unrelated donors that are available through large registries, such as the the Be The Match Registry® (operated by the National Marrow Donor Program® [NMDP] and Be The Match®), to patients who cannot identify a related donor. Overall participation in HCT donor registries has grown in the last decade, allowing more patients to find unrelated matched donors.